


Presque-Vu

by Akiko_Natsuko



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Angst, Deviancy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memories, Merpeople, Nightmares, Trust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 18:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18266810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: 'It’s almost peaceful here, and he can hear Cole laughing again, and he decides that the rest of the park was worth it just to reach this area, turning as he sees fish darting past behind him. And there’s something else he realises, rearing back in surprise as he finds himself staring into warm, brown eyes that are watching him with an almost child-like curiosity from the other side of the glass.'The Cyberaquarium: Cyberlife's answer to the deviancy scandal, has always been a contentious development and one that Hank had been more than happy to try and steer clear of. However, when Cole's fascination with 'mermaids' forces him to step foot in the park, he's not expecting to find himself questioning everything.





	Presque-Vu

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ecchima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecchima/gifts).



> 'You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water' ~ Rabindranath Tagore
> 
> A massive thanks to Ecchima for letting me play with their AU idea.

_The water is cool against his skin, but not enough to cause his system any kind of distress, and in fact, he can already feel his regulators kicking into gear, his body rapidly adjusting to the chill of the tank after the heat of the lab. He falters for a second as he moved, the feel of his tail cutting through the water behind him giving him pause, and for a second there’s a flicker. A memory trying to bubble up, and he knows that if he could see it, the LED in his temple would be flickering yellow – that thought alone brings with it a surge of feeling that threatens to bleed the yellow into red, and the shiver that follows, has nothing to do with the water._

_Not again…_

_Shaking his head, squeezing his eyes shut as though that would keep the memory at bay, or at least stop it from growing any clearer. I can’t remember, I don’t want to remember. It’s a lie, but it’s easier to deal with than the truth. His system can’t be fooled though, and he can feel them trying to fix the memory, almost like depixelating an image._

_No._

_With a sharp flick of the tail that doesn’t feel right, he twists in the water, and dives deep, fleeing deeper into the water. Burying himself, in what he now realises is a familiar cold, and as he sinks further and further into the depths, he can feel himself calming, and the memory still mercifully blurry fading away._

_It’s safer that way._

****

    Hank kept half an ear on Cole’s excited chatter as he turned into the carpark at the Cyberlife Cyberaquarium and Theme Park, eyeing the rows of modern cars with familiar distaste, and ignoring the sideways glances that his older car always drew as he wove through the rows until he finally managed to find a parking spot. Slipping into the spot he wound down the wheel, waiting for the display point that slowly emerged from the ground, rising until it was directly level with the driver’s window, and pressing his hand to the display. Thinking longingly of the old parking meters, as an array of options flashed in front of him, glancing over his shoulder at Cole who was practically vibrating in his seat, clutching the book about mermaids that had brought them here in the first place, before sighing and selecting the longest stay, authorising the payment with another press of his hand.

     As the display point sank back into the ground, Hank glanced across to the main entrance to the park, easily visible at this distance, as it was framed with a huge arch of blue and white balloons bobbing happily in the breeze beneath the Cyberlife insignia rotating above the gates. It was vastly different from his last memory of the place, which had been nearly two years ago for work when the opening ceremony had been interrupted by protestors. It had been a long stressful day, leaving him with a black eye, a citation for losing his temper, and a strong desire never to visit the park again, and yet here he was, and he sighed as he sank back in his seat and rubbed a hand over his face, before looking up at the buildings.

    While the theme park itself didn’t seem to have changed that much since then from he could see, eyes tracing the graceful, swooping silhouettes of the rides that were high enough to rear above the neighbouring buildings. Although if the news stories were to be believed, Cyberlife had been tweaking things constantly, until the park now stood at the top of the rankings in the United States and beyond, for both design and experience. However, what was visibly different were the buildings that housed the majority of the Cyberaquarium. Back then, there had been two smaller, somewhat dingy buildings to the right of the main park, which had housed the best displays amongst the rides. Now, those buildings were long gone, replaced by a vast construction of white walls, and glass that glittered in the summer sun, and even from here he could see water shimmering through the windows.

“Dad?” He was pulled from his thoughts by Cole’s voice, turning to find his son straining against the seat belt. “Let’s go in!” The impatient excitement brings a smile to his face, and he debates teasing him for a moment before deciding against it, as Cole had been counting down the days to this trip for weeks now.

“All right, all right,” Hank cast a last glance towards the new building, before shaking his head and stepping out of the car, muttering under his breath about Cyberlife taking over Detroit as he did so, although he was careful to keep the words too quiet for Cole to hear. It’s not exactly a secret that he’s not a massive fan of Cyberlife or all the ‘developments’ they’ve brought to the city, but there’s a difference between general awareness, and people hearing some of the things he’s said. And he’d learnt the hard way that Cole who took every word from his lips as Gospel was happy to repeat his words at the worst possible moment.

    Besides, his son’s eyes are bright as he opens the back door and waves him out, pleased to see that Cole only released the seatbelt after he’d open the door. “Wait for me,” he does have to caution, as Cole looks ready to bolt for the entrance as soon as he’s out of the car. It earns him an eye roll, and the kind of frustrated look that only an over-excited ten-year-old could give, and he’s deliberately slow as he closes the door and checks the car is locked, lips twitching into a grin as Cole breaks and whines ‘Dad’ as finally turns around. “All right, let’s go.”

    Those were apparently the magic words, as Cole latches onto his wrist and tugs him along, not giving him a chance to drag the walk out. He’s chatting away again, and Hank is reasonably sure that he’s just said the word ‘mermaid’ about twenty times in a single minute, and he shakes his head. It had been a topic at school – and he’s cynical enough to wonder if Cyberlife hadn’t pushed for it to be taught to drum up more business – and since then Cole hadn’t been able to talk about anything else. He had scoured the internet for every bit of information he could get on the Cyberlife creations, read or begged Hank to read him every story he could find about mermaids old and new, and filled his schoolbooks with doodles of the creatures. This visit had been an inevitability really, even with Hank’s reluctance to return.

    In truth, he was even more reluctant to visit the Cyberaquarium, which had been the root of the protests last time he’d been here – a mixture of technophobes and several groups that had started protesting for Android rights when the first few cases of deviancy had hit the news. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that, although there was certainly something about the advertisements for the park that sent chills through him, as he saw the converted Androids drifting through the water. Former Deviants they might be – and he had seen more than enough news, and case files to know what generally happened when an Android deviated - but he wasn’t sure that anyone deserved what had been done to them.

    He can’t bring himself to voice that in the face of his son’s excitement though, and it seems like no time at all before they’ve joined the queue to buy tickets. It’s not as busy as Hank had expected, although he supposes that most people have already visited, but it still takes a few minutes for them to move to the front of the queue. And when he gets to the front, he’s confronted with the flashing LED and the too-perfect smile of the woman at the desk. _An Android, there’s_ an irony here that Hank’s not sure he appreciates, but he’s not about to pick an argument in front of Cole. However, he can’t help but study her as he pays for the tickets and accepts the guides and safety warnings that she passes to him, searching for some sign that she knows that she’s letting them in to gawk at modified versions of her own kind. Or that if she deviates, she could well join them. If she is aware of either fact it doesn’t show through, and he’s more than a little abrupt as she waves them inside with a smile and a cheerful ‘enjoy yourselves’.

    The guide is out of hands the second they’re through the gate, Cole already planning their route, leaving Hank to scan the safety information. Most of it is related to the theme park rides and their restrictions, not that he thinks he’ll need to worry much about that as it’s clear where his son’s attention is focused. However, at the end of the safety sheet is a section titled ‘Deviancy’, listing the behaviours and warning signs that might indicate that the ‘mermaids’ were at risk of deviating again, asking that they inform the closest attendant if they had any concerns. _They didn’t mention that in any of the press releases,_ he thought with a frown, remembering all the publicity that had surrounded Cyberlife’s solution to their deviancy problem, wondering what else they had failed to disclose, crumpling the paper before hurrying after Cole.

   Cole had all but bolted towards the display that greeted them as they passed through the long tunnel that leads into the park, and the path split forming a ‘y’ that split off towards the Cyberaquarium or towards the main park, and in the middle of the split was a huge, diamond-shaped tank. It was certainly eye-catching, even Hank could admit that much, as tropical fish darted between greenery that swayed gracefully in the current, and across patterned rock and coral. However, what caught his attention, and had his son’s eyes riveted on them, were the pair of Mermaids that were darting – almost playfully across the tank, although it seemed to Hank when one of them glanced at him, blue eyes the same shade as the LED blinking in their temple that they were lost. Trapped, and forced to do the only activities available to them, and he found himself looking away, even as Cole’s delighted laughter echoed in his ears.


End file.
